This is my bike, which I bought from Robert at Waterlooplein yesterday.  Loré guessed I'd name it "CTRLcycle" (which, I assume, would be pronounced so as to rhyme with "popsicle"), since once upon a time, I had a bright blue Saturn Ion which Tam christened "The CTRL Ship".  So, CTRLcycle it is.

Is it inappropriate of me to say that middle-aged Dutch men have the cutest accents in the world?  They sound like there are soap bubbles and rubber duckies bobbing along with their words.  When Robert was selling me this bike, I couldn't help but smile the whole time.  I feel the same way when listening to my inquisitive semantics professor, Jeroen Groenendijk (though, I'll admit, Groenendijk is 50% more entertaining because he spends half of our seminar pretending to ask whether someone is going to a party.)  I've told Tarek I wish I could keep Groenendijk in a box in my pocket, so I could pull him out and hear him ask, "Will Maaaary go to the paaaaarty?" whenever I want.  Yeah, that sounds pretty patronizing, doesn't it.

Anyway, if you ever need a bike in Amsterdam: go to the Waterlooplein flea market.  Talk to Robert and see for yourself. :)

So, here are some more photos.  The first is of the Pauzeruimte in the ILLC.  It's my favourite room, ever.  The second is a photo I took at Bagels & Beans, a bagel restaurant near city hall.  They offer beautifully simple fresh mint tea.  It's exactly what you'd expect -- a ton of mint leaves in hot water.  The last is a photo of pigeons at my front door (one's really pretty!)  All photos are clickable to embiggen (as it were.)